How to Pick a Favorite Baseball Teamby Harrison Montague

The crack of the bat. The roar of the crowd. The smell of the dirt. Baseball season is here again. The San Diego Padres have been and will always be my team. I grew up thirty minutes from the stadium and would attend several games a year with my dad and brother. I have stuck with the Padres through the rough seasons and seemingly-endless losses and am still a huge fan to this day.

If you haven’t picked a favorite team to root for this year, there is no need to worry even if you don’t know the first thing about baseball. I have a fool-proof way to decide which team you should cheer for.

The Criteria

With endless teams to choose from, how can you possible make the final decision? Do you choose a team based on their mascot? Do you choose a favorite player and root for the team he plays for or even base your decision on the color of the team’s uniforms? These are all noble ways to choose, but you need a more creative way to decide.

When most people think of baseball, they think of Major League Baseball, the highest level of professional baseball in North America. However, there are hundreds of other professional teams, with players of all ages battling to reach the Major Leagues.

Both major and minor league teams run promotions throughout the year, ranging from the typical and uninspiring to the outrageous and over-the-top.

Getting behind a team that has the most innovative promotions and fan interactions is a fun way to get involved with baseball and learn a bit about creativity along the way. Creative inspiration can come from anywhere and baseball promotions are no exception.

2015 Major League Promotions

Beard Hat Night with the Seattle Mariners and Mullet Night with Colorado Rockies

Have you ever wanted a beard but can’t grow one? Do you wish that you could be clean-shaven one minute and have a beard in the next? The Seattle Mariners have just the promotion for you. On April 17, 2015, the Mariners are giving the first 20,000 fans at the game beard hats that are both functional and fashionable.

If mullets are more your style, the Colorado Rockies had you in mind when picking their promotions. The Rockies best player, Troy Tulowitski, has a semi-mullet underneath his hat and the Rockies are helping their fans replicate the look. On May 24, 2015, the Rockies are giving the first 10,000 fans through the gates a mullet hat that looks a lot like the hairstyles found in the 1992 film Wayne’s World.

Faith and Family Night with the Houston Astros

For the more conservative, family-oriented fan, the Astros are holding Faith and Family Night on June 13th, 2015. The Christian-Rock band MercyMe will be playing a concert after the game. For fans that like to feel uplifted while watching sports, the Houston Astros are your team.

LGBT Night with the Oakland Athletics

The Oakland A’s are letting their opinion be heard regarding one of the most controversial social issues of today. The promotion, which is scheduled for June 17, 2015, has divided much of the Athletic’s fan base. Proponents of LGBT night claim that the Oakland A's reserve the right to highlight social issues that many of their fans are concerned about, as the Bay Area is known to be very accepting of the LGBT community.

The Athletics’ closer, Sean Doolittle, is leading the charge to ensure the stadium is filled. Doolittle, along with his girlfriend, Eireann Dolan, have offered to purchase tickets to the game from concerned ticket-holders that feel uncomfortable about the promotion.

Opponents of the promotion say that the Athletics are just a baseball team and need to leave social issues out of their promotions. Regardless, if you are an advocate for LGBT rights, the Oakland A's could be your new favorite team.

Bark at the Park with the Cincinnati Reds

No list of promotions would be complete without some sort of animal-related event. For all of you animal lovers, the Cincinnati Reds are your team. Four games throughout the 2015 season have been designated as “Bark at the Park Days,” where fans can bring man’s best friend along to a game. There are a few other teams running similar promotions in 2015, including the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets and Miami Marlins, but the Reds are holding the most dog-friendly games this year.

Past Promotions run by Minor League Teams

George Costanza Night with the Fort Meyers Miracle

Oh, the minor leagues. Minor League baseball players play with the hopes of getting signed to a Major League contract. Minor League teams love to run some really interesting promotions. Exhibit A: George Costanza night with the Fort Meyers Miracle.

I love Seinfeld. I love everything about the show. George Costanza is one of my heroes. One of the best episodes is where the hard-luck Constanza changes his life for the better by doing the opposite of everything he has ever done in his life.

The Fort Meyers Miracle love George Costanza and held a “George Costanza Night” in 2003 where everything was backwards. The scoreboard went from the ninth inning to the first inning, the players asked fans for autographs and fans were paid to park in the ballpark parking lots. The home team wore their road uniforms and a good time was had by all.

St. Paul Saints Auctioned At-Bat Night

Many fans get frustrated when their team doesn’t play well, often yelling and saying that they could do better. The St. Paul Saints gave one fan the chance to prove that he could perform better than the players on the field. On May 17, 2004, the Saints auctioned off an at-bat during an actual minor league baseball game.

The winner of the auction, 35 year-old Marc Turndoff, paid $5,601 for his one shot at professional baseball. Turndoff popped out to the catcher in his lone at-bat, but as a courtesy and a thank you from the Saints, he was invited back the next day to play in an exhibition game against a team from Japan. Promotions like this are a win-win situation. Turndoff gets to say that he has played professional baseball, the Saints raised almost $6,000 for charity and look really good to the community in the process.

Capture the Excitement Creatively

With baseball season here again, capture the excitement of following a team from the beginning of spring to the end of summer. With hundreds of unique and exciting promotions, pick a team that is creative and fun and isn’t afraid to make fun of itself.

Some people take sports a little too seriously so help buck that trend. The next time someone asks you how you chose to be a fan of the Colorado Rockies, you can tell them it is because they give away the best mullet hats.

Byline: Harrison Montague loves baseball, even though his beloved San Diego Padres have been mostly terrible for the last 20 years. When he is not watching baseball on TV, Harrison is busy attending baseball games in-person around the country. He has attended over 100 games throughout his life spread across 12 Major League stadiums across the country, including

Fenway Park in Boston, Yankees Stadium in the Bronx and Nationals Park in Washington D.C. He plans on visiting 6 more stadiums during the summer of 2015.

I grew up in America’s Finest City, San Diego, Calif.

Petco Park is home to my favorite team, the San Diego Padres